


Stripes

by RiddlePanda



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 01:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13225500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiddlePanda/pseuds/RiddlePanda
Summary: A story about one boy's unwavering love for his precious guinea pigs (including the big one)(slight dialogue spoilers for FBW)





	Stripes

**Author's Note:**

> The dark grey splotch of hair Craig has on top of his head is probably just due to lighting, but then you have to wonder why no one else has something like that.

The doctor had called it Marie Antoinette syndrome and inwardly, seven year old Craig Tucker had flipped the man off since his mom had told him to be on his best behavior. Like he even wanted to attempt anything other than sit on the table while the adults talked. All he wanted to do was crawl back in bed and sleep and maybe when he woke up, he’d be better. Maybe the damn white stripe in his hair would go away too.

It had been Stan’s Gang that had caused the injury, one of their stupid plans that ended up with someone hurt or killed. This time it had been Craig, and while the initial gash in his head from where the rock slammed in his head had healed, it had caused enough damage for his hair follicles to grow in white instead of pitch black. Unlike the beheaded former Queen, it hadn’t suddenly turned stark white, instead happening for several weeks.

Craig had been upset and embarrassed when the first few hairs were found and painfully plucked them from his head, only stopping when they kept coming and rather letting them grow than having a bald patch. Cutting them short was out of the question since he would still be left with growing hair, and while he had been able to hide his healing injury, it was getting tougher to hide the white. Even the hair dye his mother had bought and treated the patch with failed to work, the dye didn’t stick at all.

He thought the injury had messed with his head other than the chemical imbalance that was happening with his hair. Since that day, Craig hadn’t really wanted to play with the other kids in his grade, not like he used to. He didn’t smile, he hardly laughed. He felt the white stripe was turning him into an old man. If it wasn’t for Clyde and Token refusing to let him wallow away in whatever funk he was in, he probably would have just been dubbed the weird loner First Grader with skunk hair.

It was another week before Craig was picked up after school and driven to the mall to get a hat to cover the growing streak of hair after going the entire week without washing his hair. As being known for taking care of his hair more than anything else and the fretting he had done when they had to cut and shave the bald patch to treat the rock gash, totally giving up on his pride and joy was cause for concern for his mother.

Craig had grabbed the first hat he saw, a blue chullo with a bright yellow puffball, and slammed it on his head before the clerk could see the mess his hair was, pulling off the tag and handing it to his mom so she could pay.

———————————-

They usually never came to this side of the mall, the toy store being on the other side, so the pet store was always neglected. Craig had almost passed by the giant window when a shock of white hair on pitch black that wasn’t his own caught his eye.

The window display had a huge caged habitat full of guinea pigs. And sitting in the corner, not attempting to play with the others as they ran and chirped, was a pure black one with a white line of fur on top of their head.

Craig put his hand on the window in front of the animal causing it to look up at him. He smiled softly as he pulled off his hat for a second. “I know how you feel buddy.”

He continued staring at the guinea pig until his mom softly tapped his shoulder, letting him know they needed to go. His eyes and hand lingered on the window for a few more seconds before he reluctantly followed his mother, shaking his head when she asked if he wanted to go to the toy store.

The next day, Stripe (#1) the Guinea Pig became part of the Tucker’s lives.

———————————-

It had been an accident. An accident that Laura still blamed on both herself and the cheap pet store cage that housed Stripe #1. Craig had only wanted a better cage for his eighth birthday since his toddler sister was getting in his room while he was at school and letting the guinea pig out, but Thomas had insisted that the Second Grader would want a video game instead.

Laura tried as best she could to find one that looked like Craig’s, finding a similar one, black with a white stripe running the entire length of its body. A better cage was bought as well.

Craig looked forlornly in the mirror, the grey that had started growing instead of white was a lost hope as the new growth was back to white.

It took an equal amount of time for Stripe #2 to warm up to Craig as the boy warmed up to her, but soon Craig had started smiling the way he had smiled at his first.

————————————

The Tuckers didn’t even try to match Stripe #3′s color with the first two, instead probably just grabbing the first guinea pig they saw. Still… Craig loved Stripe #3 in all his golden brown glory and would kill anyone that made fun of his pet.

Craig was glad he didn’t end up killing Tweek and after they both got out of the hospital, inviting the blonde boy to hang out with his small group of friends that kept rotating as they got tired of Stan and his group’s antics.

The Third Grader didn’t even realize the grey in his hair was sticking.

———————————-

Fourth Grade approached them and on top of some of the more happier moments in Craig’s life, like adding another permanent member to his friend group in Jimmy and Tweek becoming the most important person in his life, there was a fair share of devastating moments.

Being deported to Peru was one, especially when he had to hurt the giant guinea pigs, fighting with Tweek in any form was another.

Losing Stripe #3 was the hardest.

Craig could count on his hand the number of times he had cried. Gaining the now permanent white/grey streak in his hair and the frustrations with it was one, crying after his initial breakup with Tweek before they officially got together was two, and losing the most important thing in his life behind Tweek was three.

Craig was what was known as an ugly crier. Even Clyde’s sobs were nothing compared to the noises that Craig emitted as he sobbed uncontrollably in Tweek’s shirt as the blonde held the shaking boy while running his fingers through the light grey stripe of hair on Craig’s head.

He was so far gone that he didn’t notice his dad come in the room, regret and smudged dirt on his face nor the angered knowing look Tweek shot at Thomas.

————————————

Money was a bit short since Thomas had used most of what he earned buying Yaoi art (inaccurate in some since the pictures of him didn’t have his stripe of hair), so Craig was told he wasn’t able to get another guinea pig for a while.

Craig didn’t remember much of that week afterward, vaguely remembering putting up the toys and cage wherever there was room. The white was back, a stark contrast to the light grey that had been growing since he began to date Tweek.

He didn’t even realize Tweek hadn’t been hanging around him the entire week until he got a text message from the blonde, asking if he wanted to hang out at the mall since he was off from the coffee shop.

Tweek was waiting in the center of the mall at the large fountain. He smiled softly as Craig walked up and reached to grab his hand. Craig let Tweek lead him through the mall, lost in his thoughts, until he looked up and realized they were standing outside the pet store.

“I uh… Sorry I haven’t been around the past week. Was working more hours. But it was worth it.”

“Tweek…”

The only guinea pig that wasn’t bothered by Tweek’s twitching was a multicolored one, dark brown fur on his body with large patches of light brown fur covering most of his face. There was a stripe of white fur separating the head from the body as well as the two patches of brown fur running from the base of his head, through his nose, to the underside.

Craig had insisted that since Tweek had bought him, that Stripe #4 was fully Tweek’s, but the blonde shook his head, claiming that he only had money for the guinea pig and nothing else (aside from the new bag of food, the four bags of treats, and the twenty pound bag of bedding that Tweek easily carried all the way to the Tuckers’s house) and that Craig had all the proper housing for their child.

For the first time in a week, Craig came home with a smile on his face, his boyfriend and their new son in tow.

——————————————-

Stripe #4 had lived a very full life. If the cavy could talk, his only complaint would have probably been wanting his daddies to take him to his aunt or grandparents’ room while his daddies had fun. Still…the guinea pig had no regrets as he squeaked one last time in Craig and Tweek’s hands.

Tweek had dug the grave this time while Craig had carefully placed the guinea pig in the wooden box he had made in Shop Class.

The two eighteen year olds knew that it had only been a matter of time and that Stripe #4 wouldn’t have possibly survived their trip to their college next Fall. They both ugly cried on Craig’s bed before falling asleep in each other’s arms, Tweek’s cheek resting on the dark grey stripe in Craig’s hair.

———————————-

It took three weeks into college before Craig noticed his hair was entirely black as he got out of the shower. The boy would never admit, but he spent a solid thirty minutes trying to find just one hint of white or grey that he had been used to for over a decade. It was all gone though. Any trace of the stripe was gone and Craig hadn’t even realized.

“Craig! I’m home! I’ve got a surprise!”

Craig thought Tweek had brought something from the fancy bakery home until he realized that if the box had a cake, it wouldn’t be shaking on the table. Or have air holes. Especially if one hole had a twitching black nose.

“We got our pet application approved today and the guinea pig breeder I contacted a few weeks ago held back the one I wanted to get for us. I hope you’re not mad, but your mom showed me pictures of the ones you had before the ones I knew and once I saw her, I knew this guinea pig was the one.”

Craig carefully opened the box and nearly teared up as he looked into the dark eyes of the pure black guinea pig with a white line of fur on the top of her head. Craig ran his own fingers through his completely black hair as he smiled at the cavy and looked up at Tweek.

“So…Stripe #5?”

Craig shook his head. “Stripe had a good run. How about Streak?”


End file.
